Electronic device, wireless communication method and computer-readable medium

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, a wireless communication method and a computer-readable medium. According to one embodiment, an electronic device for wireless communication comprises a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to conduct control so as to send a reference signal for a direct link to the other user equipment or to receive same from the other user equipment; the processing circuit is also configured to conduct control so as to carry out beamforming-based direct link communication with the other user equipment; and at least one of a sending beam and a receiving beam for direct link communication is determined based on the measurement of the reference signal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure in general relates to the technical field ofwireless communication, and in particular to an electronic device forwireless communication, a wireless communication method, and acomputer-readable medium.

BACKGROUND

Communication with a high frequency band (for example, a frequency bandgreater than 6 GHz) may result in a large path loss and a large phasenoise, thus a beamforming process is required.

Different from an omnidirectional reception communication, in thebeamforming-based communication, it is required to select a transmission(Tx) beam or a reception (Rx) beam. In addition, beam alignment can beperformed to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio and avoidinterference.

SUMMARY

Brief summary of the present disclosure is given hereinafter, so as toprovide basic understanding in some aspects of the present disclosure.However, it is to be understood that this summary is not an exhaustiveoverview of the present disclosure. It is neither intended to identifykey or critical parts of the present disclosure, nor intended to definethe scope of the present disclosure. It merely functions to present someconcepts of the present disclosure in a simplified form to be used as aprelude to a more detailed description stated later.

According to an embodiment, an electronic device for wirelesscommunication is provided, which includes processing circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry is configured to perform control to transmit to orreceive from another user equipment a reference signal for a sidelink.The processing circuitry is also configured to perform control toperform beamforming-based sidelink communication with the another userequipment. At least one of a transmission beam and a reception beam forthe sidelink communication is determined based on a measurement withrespect to the reference signal.

According to another embodiment, a wireless communication method isprovided. The method includes a step of transmitting to or receivingfrom another user equipment a reference signal for a sidelink. Themethod also includes a step of performing beamforming-based sidelinkcommunication with the another user equipment. At least one of atransmission beam and a reception beam for the sidelink communication isdetermined based on measurement with respect to the reference signal.

According to still another embodiment, an electronic device for wirelesscommunication is provided, which includes a processing circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry is configured to allocate a communication resourcefor transmitting a reference signal. The reference signal is used fordetermining at least one of a transmission beam and a reception beam forbeamforming-based sidelink communication between user equipments.

According to still another embodiment, a wireless communication methodis provided, which includes a step of allocating a communicationresource for transmitting a reference signal. The reference signal isused for determining at least one of a transmission beam and a receptionbeam for beamforming-based sidelink communication between userequipments.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer-readable medium is further provided. The computer-readablemedium includes executable instructions that, when executed by aninformation processing apparatus, cause the information processingapparatus to implement the method according to the above embodiments.

With the embodiments of the present disclosure, the reliability andstability of the beamforming-based sidelink communication can beimproved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure can be understood better with reference to thedetail description given in conjunction with the drawings in thefollowing. The same or similar element is indicated by the same orsimilar reference numeral throughout all the drawings. The drawingstogether with the following detailed description are incorporated intoand form a part of the specification and serve to further illustrate thepreferred embodiments of the present disclosure and to explain theprinciples and advantages of the present disclosure by way of example.In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to anotherembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to still anotherembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to still anotherembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to still anotherembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a user equipment side according to still anotherembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process example of a wirelesscommunication method at a user equipment side according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a base station side according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device at a base station side according to anotherembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process example of a wirelesscommunication method at a base station side according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a computerthat implements the method and apparatus of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematicconfiguration of a smartphone to which the technology of the presentdisclosure may be applied;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematicconfiguration of a gNB (a base station in a 5G system) to which thetechnology of the present disclosure may be applied;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematicconfiguration of a car navigation device to which the technology of thepresent disclosure may be applied;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a beamconfiguration;

FIG. 16 is a signaling flowchart for illustrating an example process ofposition-based beamforming;

FIG. 17 is a signaling flowchart for illustrating an example process ofdetermining and configuring a beam management mode;

FIGS. 18 to 20 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating exampleprocesses of configuring related parameters and resources for beammeasurement;

FIGS. 21 to 26 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating exampleprocesses of beam determination;

FIGS. 27 to 30 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating exampleprocesses of beam tracking; and

FIGS. 31 to 35 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating a beam recoverymechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below withreference to the drawings. Elements and features described in onedrawing or one embodiment of the present disclosure may be combined withelements and features in one or more other drawings or embodiments. Itshould be noted that, for the purpose of clarity, representations anddescriptions of components and processes not related to the presentdisclosure and known to those skilled in the art are omitted in thedrawings and the description.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic device 100 at a user equipment sideaccording to an embodiment includes a processing circuitry 110. Theprocessing circuitry 110 may be implemented, for example, by a specificchip, a chipset, a central processing unit (CPU), or the like.

According to an embodiment, the user equipment may include a vehicle.Although a vehicle may be used as an example of the user equipment inthe following description of the example embodiment, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, but may be used in variousapplication scenarios of a new radio (NR) sidelink, such as a machinetype communication (MTC), device-to-device (D2D) communication,vehicle-to-device (V2X) communication, internet of things (TOT)communication, and the like. The V2X communication may includevehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, and thelike.

The processing circuitry 110 includes a transceiving control unit 111and a communication control unit 113. It should be noted that, althoughthe transceiving control unit 111 and the communication control unit 113are shown in the form of functional blocks in the drawing, it will beappreciated that the functions of these units may also be implemented bythe processing circuitry 110 as a whole, which is not necessarilyimplemented by discrete actual components in the processing circuitry110. In addition, although the processing circuitry 110 is shown by ablock in the drawing, the electronic device 100 may include multipleprocessing circuitries, and the functions of the transceiving controlunit 111 and the communication control unit 113 may be distributed intothe multiple processing circuitries, such that these functions can beperformed by cooperation of the multiple processing circuitries.

The transceiving control unit 111 is configured to perform control totransmit to or receive from another user equipment a reference signalfor a sidelink.

The communication control unit 113 is configured to perform control toperform beamforming-based sidelink communication with the another userequipment. At least one of a transmission beam and a reception beam forthe sidelink communication is determined based on a measurement withrespect to the above reference signal.

In the sidelink communication, two resource allocation modes are mainlyadopted, namely, a base station scheduling mode (Mode 3), and a userequipment (UE) autonomous selection mode (Mode 4). Next, a triggeringmode of the beamforming-based sidelink communication is brieflydescribed in combination with different resource allocation modes.

In the case of the Mode 3, the beamforming-based sidelink communicationmay be determined by a base station such as gNB, or may be determined bya transmitter. In the case of the Mode 4, the beamforming-based sidelinkcommunication may be determined by a transmitter or a receiver.

More specifically, triggering conditions of the beamforming-basedsidelink communication may include, for example, the following thatservice requirements (such as a delay, a data rate, a bandwidth, or apriority) request the communication to be performed in a frequency band,for example greater than 6 GHz, however, the communication range orcommunication quality (such as a path loss and an estimatedsignal-to-noise ratio (SNR)) in the high frequency band cannot meet theservice requirements.

In addition, if a UE, such as a vehicle, is configured by a base stationto perform communication in a high frequency band by using thebeamforming technology or a chip of the UE is pre-configured to performcommunication in a high frequency band by using the beamformingtechnology, the beamforming-based sidelink communication may beperformed.

Next, the reference signal for the sidelink is described. According toan embodiment, a sidelink reference signal dedicated to beam managementwhich is also referred to herein as SL-BMRS may be set. In addition,when the UE is located within the coverage of the base station, asounding reference signal (SRS) may be multiplexed as a beam measurementreference signal for the sidelink. In addition, in a case that one ofthe transmitter and the receiver is used for synchronization reference,a sidelink synchronization signal (SLSS) may be used as a beammeasurement reference signal.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the reference signal for thesidelink includes a sounding reference signal, a sidelinksynchronization signal, or a sidelink beam management reference signalSL-BMRS.

Next, an example mode of multiplexing SRS or SLSS as a beam measurementreference signal will be described.

In the example mode of multiplexing SRS, when a vehicle is within thecoverage of a base station, a set of subframe numbers available totransmit SRS in a cell is configured through a system information blockSIB 2 (for example, through a srs-SubframeConfig field ofSoundingRS-UL-ConfigCommon). In addition, each vehicle may be configuredwith a specific SRS resource set by a high layer through the parameterSRS-ResourceSetConfig. In each resource set, the high layer mayconfigure a number K of SRS resources for the vehicle through theparameter SRS-ResourceConfig, where K is equal to or greater than one,and a maximum value of K may be indicated by SRS capability. When theSRS may be multiplexed as a sidelink beam measurement reference signal,the high layer may set the parameter SRS-SetUse to “SL-BeamManagement”.In this case, in each SRS resource set, there is only one SRS resourceto be transmitted at the same time. When beam scanning is performed withrespect to multiple beams, SRS resources in different SRS resource setsmay be transmitted simultaneously.

In the example mode of multiplexing SLSS, in a Mode 4 scenario, when atransmitter or a receiver is a synchronous reference vehicle, the SLSSmay be used for beam measurement, but a priority of the SLSS may be setto be lower than that of the SL-BMRS, and the beam measurementconfiguration mode may be the same as that of the SL-BMRS.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit111 is configured to perform control to transmit, on multiple beams,multiple reference signals which respectively corresponds to themultiple beams to the another user equipment. For example, theinformation may be transmitted or received through a Physical SidelinkControl Channel (PSCCH).

Specifically, the reference signal SL-BMRS is unique to each vehicle,and each beam may have its own beam ID, corresponding SL-BMRS, and aresource position occupied by the SL-BMRS. If a receiver needs tomeasure a transmission beam, the receiver may first configuremeasurement information of each beam, which includes a type of the beammeasurement reference signal, an ID of an identification beam, atime-frequency resource position corresponding to a measurementreference signal SL-BMRS, and the like.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit111 is configured to perform control to transmit to or receive fromanother user equipment a type (SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS) of the referencesignal, a time-frequency resource position of the reference signal, abeam identification corresponding to the reference signal, and the like.

Table 1 shows an example of measurement information of a beam.

TABLE 1 Configuration SL RS #k RS index Frequency Time Beam ID (K)(SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS) position position

FIG. 15 shows an example of a beam configuration, where each beam hasits own identification and may be individually configured with areference signal.

In addition, according to an embodiment, position-based beamforming maybe adopted in a sidelink. Accordingly, the transceiving control unit 111may be configured to perform control to acquire position information ofthe another user equipment and/or provide position information of acurrent user equipment to the another user equipment. The determinationof at least one of the transmission beam and the reception beam for thesidelink communication is further based on the position information. Forexample, the position information may include, but is not limited to,latitude, longitude, orientation, and speed. In addition, in anembodiment, the determination of at least one of the transmission beamand the reception beam for the sidelink communication may be only basedon the position information, and not based on the reference signal forthe sidelink described in the above embodiment. In other words, theembodiment in which the determination of the beam is based on theposition information and the embodiment in which the determination ofthe beam is based on the reference signal may be combined with eachother, or may be implemented independently. For example, in a case ofperforming beam determination based on position information, by directlyexchanging position information between the transmitter and thereceiver, the transmitter may select a transmission beam based on theposition information of the receiver, and the receiver may also select areception beam based on the position information of the transmitter.

Taking the V2X application scenario as an example, the positioninformation may include orientation, latitude, longitude, and speed of avehicle. The vehicle may acquire its own position information throughpositioning technologies such as the Global Positioning System (GPS),and transmit the position information to a communication object througha sidelink or the network (for example, via gNB or a roadside unit(RSU)).

For example, in a Mode 4 scenario, a vehicle may periodically broadcastits position information and vehicle identification to the surroundings,so that vehicles on both sides of the communication can each transmitposition information and vehicle identification on the broadcastchannel.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit111 may be configured to perform control to broadcast positioninformation of a current user equipment and/or receive broadcastedposition information of the another user equipment.

In a Mode 3 scenario, in addition to receiving broadcasted positioninformation, when requesting for a sidelink resource from a basestation, the vehicle may also request for acquiring the positioninformation of the receiver.

FIG. 16 shows an example process of position-based beamforming. First,the transmitter and the receiver perform position sharing. Then, thetransmitter may perform beamforming based on the position information,and transmit a beamforming signal to the receiver.

In addition, beam management may be performed in different modes. Asshown in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment, the electronic device 200at the user equipment side includes a processing circuitry 210. Theprocessing circuitry 210 includes a transceiving control unit 211, acommunication control unit 213, and a determination unit 215.Configurations of the transceiving control unit 211 and thecommunication control unit 213 are respectively similar to that of thetransceiving control unit 111 and the communication control unit 113described above with reference to FIG. 1.

The determination unit 215 is configured to determine a beam managementmode for the sidelink communication.

For example, the beam management mode may include: a first mode in whichboth the transmission beam and the reception beam are determined basedon the measurement with respect to the reference signal; and a secondmode in which only one of the transmission beam and the reception beamis determined based on the measurement with respect to the referencesignal.

The communication control unit 213 is configured to perform control toperform the sidelink communication with the another user equipment basedon the determined beam management mode.

According to an embodiment, the determination unit 215 may determine thebeam management mode based on stability of the sidelink.

In the following description of the example embodiment, the first modemay also be referred to as a “feedback-based beam management mode”, andthe second mode may also be referred to as a “feedback-free beammanagement mode”.

Still taking the V2X application scenario as an example, for example,the feedback-free beam management mode may be adopted in the followingconditions:

driving routes of vehicles are the same and a relative position and arelative speed are stable;

the transmitter records a communication beam pair link (BPL) conditionwith the receiver in a previous predetermined period of time, when aratio (which may be defined as a parameter A) of beams with betterquality (for example, the reference signal received power (RSRP) isgreater than a predetermined threshold) is greater than a certainthreshold, the transmitter determines that the transmission path withthe receiver is good (for example, there is no obstruction and there isa small interference between them), then the feedback-free beammanagement may be performed; or

the vehicle is performing other service with a higher priority, andcannot transmit or receive feedback.

In addition, the transceiving control unit 211 may be further configuredto perform control to transmit indication information related to a beammanagement mode to another user equipment.

FIG. 17 shows an example process for determining and configuring a beammanagement mode.

As shown in FIG. 17, first, the transmitter and the receiver performposition sharing. It should be noted that this step is optional. Forexample, in a case of determining a beam management mode based on acondition that is not related to position information in the aboveconditions, position sharing is not required.

Next, the transmitter determines the beam management mode. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto, and the beam management modemay also be determined by the receiver or determined by the network side(for example, gNB or RSU).

Then, the transmitter transmits indication information (FBConfIndicator)of the beam management mode to the receiver, so that the receiver candetect its operation configuration according to the indicationinformation.

For example, the indication information may include two bits ofinformation. Table 2 shows an example of the meaning of the indicationinformation.

TABLE 2 Configuration indication (FBConfIndicator) 00 01 11 Support Nofeedback is transmitted No feedback is transmitted during feedbackduring the bean the bean determination, tracking determination andtracking and failure recovery processes processes

Next, an example mode of configuring related parameters and resourcesfor beam measurement is described.

According to an embodiment, the reference signal for sidelink istransmitted using a resource allocated by the base station. For example,the resource may be allocated through radio resource control (RRC)signaling.

FIG. 18 shows an example process for a measurement configuration in acase of Mode 3.

As shown in FIG. 18, in step 1, the transmitter requests for a sidelinkresource from the base station. Next, in step 2, the base station mayallocate resources for SL-BMRS/SRS through RRC signaling, and notify thetransmitter of the time-frequency resource position information.

In addition, in step 3, the base station may configure, through RRCsignaling, the receiver to perform beam measurement, to determine anoptimal transmission beam. The configuration content may include, forexample, a type of a beam measurement reference signal of thetransmission beam, a time-frequency resource position of the beammeasurement reference signal, and a correspondence between the beammeasurement reference signal and the beam ID. In addition, if beammanagement is based on feedback, the measurement result reporting stepmay also be configured, for example, the time-frequency resourcerequired for reporting the measurement result in the PSCCH channel onthe frequency band of less than 6 GHz can be configured.

Accordingly, for a receiver, that is, in a case that the transceivingcontrol unit 111 is configured to perform control to receive a referencesignal for a sidelink from another user equipment, according to anembodiment, the transceiving control unit 111 may also be configured toperform control to receive the following information transmitted by thebase station: a type of the reference signal, a time-frequency resourceposition of the reference signal, and a beam identificationcorresponding to the reference signal.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show example processes of a measurement configuration ina case of Mode 4. FIG. 19 corresponds to a case where the transmittertransmits a beam measurement reference signal for beam determination,and FIG. 20 corresponds to a case where the receiver transmits a beammeasurement reference signal for beam determination.

As shown in FIG. 19, for example, the transmitter configures beammeasurement information on the PSCCH (<6 GHz) for the receiver throughdedicated signaling, which may include a type (SL-BMRS/SLSS) of themeasurement reference signal, a resource position occupied by the beammeasurement reference signal and the corresponding beam ID. If afeedback-based beam management mode is adopted, the measurement resultreporting step may be further configured, that is, when the report isperformed after the measurement.

As shown in FIG. 20, for example, the receiver configures beammeasurement information on the PSCCH (<6 GHz) for the transmitterthrough dedicated signaling, which may include a type (SL-BMRS/SLSS) ofthe measurement reference signal, a resource position occupied by thebeam measurement reference signal and the corresponding beam ID. If afeedback-based beam management mode is adopted, the measurement resultreporting step may be further configured, that is, when the report isperformed after the measurement.

Next, an example mode of a beam determination process is described. Theconfiguration of the electronic device according to the exampleembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 again.

As shown in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment, the electronic device200 at the user equipment side includes a processing circuitry 210. Theprocessing circuitry 210 includes a transceiving control unit 211, acommunication control unit 213, and a determination unit 215.Configuration of the communication control unit 213 is similar to thatof the communication control unit 113 described above with reference toFIG. 1.

The transceiving control unit 211 is configured to perform control totransmit the reference signal to the another user equipment. In otherwords, this embodiment corresponds to the user equipment of thetransmitter.

In addition, the transceiving control unit 211 is further configured toperform control to receive feedback information transmitted by theanother user equipment based on the measurement with respect to thereference signal.

The determination unit 215 is configured to determine a transmissionbeam for the sidelink communication based on the feedback information.

FIG. 21 shows an example process for feedback-based beam determinationin a case of Mode 3.

As shown in FIG. 21, the transmitter transmits the sidelink referencesignal to the receiver. In addition, the base station performs sidelinkauthorization for the transmitter.

After the configuration of the base station, the receiver measures thereference signal corresponding to the transmission beam, and reports themeasurement result (such as RSRP) and the corresponding beam ID of eachbeam to the transmitter. Therefore, the transmitter may determine thetransmission beam according to the feedback information of the receiver,and perform sidelink transmission.

In addition, FIG. 24 shows an example process for feedback-based beamdetermination in a case of Mode 4.

As shown in FIG. 24, in step 1, the transmitter selects a resource fortransmitting a beam measurement reference signal from a pre-configuredresource pool (for example, by a base station). When the transmitter isused as a synchronization reference, SLSS may be transmitted as a beammeasurement reference signal for beam determination.

In step 2, the receiver measures the reference signal.

In step 3, the receiver reports the measurement result RSRP and thecorresponding beam ID of each beam to the transmitter in thepre-configured PSCCH (for example, <6 GHz) resource pool (for example,by the base station).

In step 4, the transmitter transmits a beam indication to the receiveron the PSCCH (<6 GHz), the content of which includes the ID of thetransmission beam which is selected according to the beam measurementresult reported by the receiver. In addition, the sidelink controlinformation (SCI) associated with data transmission may be transmittedto the receiver (for example, through a frequency band of greater than 6GHz) to indicate transmission information.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit211 may be further configured to perform control to notify the anotheruser equipment (the receiver) of the transmission beam determined by thedetermination unit 215.

Next, an example embodiment in the feedback-free beam management modewill be described.

FIG. 22 shows an example process for feedback-free beam determination ina case of Mode 3.

Different from the example process shown in FIG. 21, as shown in FIG.22, after the configuration of the base station, the receiver performsRSRP measurement on the transmission beam and performs beam scanning onthe reception beam (as shown in FIG. 23). The optimal reception beam isselected, to form an optimal beam pair link with the transmission beam.

In addition, the embodiment of the present disclosure also includes anelectronic device at the user equipment side corresponding to thereceiver side. As shown in FIG. 3, an electronic device 300 according tothe embodiment includes a processing circuitry 310. The processingcircuitry 310 includes a transceiving control unit 311, a communicationcontrol unit 313, a measurement control unit 315, and a determinationunit 317. The communication control unit 313 is similar to thecommunication control unit 113 described in the above embodiment.

The transceiving control unit 311 is configured to perform control toreceive a reference signal for a sidelink from another user equipment (atransmitter).

The measurement control unit 315 is configured to perform control tomeasure the reference signal.

The determination unit 317 is configured to determine a reception beamfor a beamforming-based sidelink based on a measurement with respect tothe reference signal.

It should be noted that the embodiment is not limited to the abovefeedback-based beam management mode or the feedback-free beam managementmode. In other words, regardless of whether the receiver feeds back themeasurement result on the reference signal to the transmitter, thereceiver can determine the reception beam based on the measurement withrespect to the reference signal.

In addition, in an embodiment, in a case where the feedback-free beammanagement mode is adopted, the determination of the reception beam maybe only based on position information, and not based on the referencesignal for a sidelink. For example, the receiver may select thereception beam based on the position information of the transmitter.

Corresponding to the feedback-based beam management mode, according toan embodiment, the transceiving control unit 311 may be furtherconfigured to transmit feedback information to the another userequipment (the transmitter) based on the measurement with respect to thereference signal.

In addition, in a case that the feedback-free beam management mode isadopted, the transmitter may determine a transmission beam for thesidelink communication based on the position information of the anotheruser equipment (the receiver), and may transmit the reference signal forthe sidelink on the determined transmission beam.

FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 show example processes of performing beamdetermination by using a feedback-free beam management mode in the caseof Mode 4. FIG. 25 corresponds to a case where the transmitter is usedas a synchronization reference, and FIG. 26 corresponds to a case wherethe receiver is used as a synchronization reference.

As shown in FIG. 25, when the transmitter is a synchronous reference, instep 1, the transmitter may transmit SLSS as a beam measurementreference signal. In step 2, the receiver selects a reception beam basedon the measurement with respect to the reference signal. In step 3, thetransmitter transmits the SCI to the receiver, and in step 4, a sidelinktransmission is performed.

As shown in FIG. 26, when the receiver is a synchronous reference, instep 1, the receiver may transmit SLSS to the transmitter as a beammeasurement reference signal, which may be transmitted using resourcesin a resource pool pre-configured by the base station, for example.

In step 2, after receiving the SLSS transmitted by the receiver, thetransmitter may perform SLSS-based RSRP measurement, perform thetransmission beam scanning and utilize channel reciprocity, so as toselect an optimal beam pair link.

In step 3, the transmitter may transmit SCI to the receiver to indicateinformation of data transmission, and may transmit beam indicationsignal to indicate a beam ID of the reception beam.

In step 4, the transmitter and the receiver perform sidelinktransmission using the corresponding beam.

After the beam determination is performed in the above example mode andthe sidelink transmission is performed based on the determined beam, abeam tracking process may further be performed.

Specifically, the receiver may measure and monitor each beam pair linkbetween the transmitter and the receiver, that is, the transmitter mayperiodically transmit reference signals for beam measurement on all thetransmission beams (which may include the transmission beams selectedfor transmission), to perform beam tracking.

In Mode 3, the receiver may be configured by the base station, forexample, through RRC signaling. An example process is as shown in FIG.27. In Mode 4, the receiver may be configured by the transmitter on theresources in the pre-configured resource pool through dedicated controlsignaling. An example process is as shown in FIG. 28.

The beam tracking configuration transmitted by the base station or bythe transmitter to the receiver may include, for example, the contentlisted in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Configuration Reference signal indication Periodicallytransmitted SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS Beam ID Measurement results of which beamsare to be reported Time interval between reference When is themeasurement result to be signal and reporting reported by the receiverPeriod Frequency for reporting the (periodic/semi-static reporting)measurement result Trigger event Metrics in the domain can be RSRP,(non-periodic reporting) receiver timing, or the like

FIG. 29 shows an example process for feedback-based beam tracking.

In step 1, the transmitter periodically transmits a measurementreference signal of each possible transmit beam (which may bedetermined, for example, by a geographical position) on the(pre-configured) configured resources by the base station, to performbeam tracking.

In step 2, the receiver measures the reference signal, and feeds backthe beam report to the transmitter in step 3.

In step 4, after receiving the measurement result, the transmitter, forexample, determines whether to perform beam adjustment according tofluctuation/distribution state of the measurement result (which isrelated to a beam failure threshold). For example, if quality of thebeam pair link fluctuates frequently near a threshold, it is required toadjust the beam to be wider, such that the beam is easier to track.

In step 5, the receiver determines whether a beam failure occurs.Trigger conditions for the beam failure may include, for example:

1. RSRP based on the measurement reference signal is less than ThRSRPduring the beam tracking process;

2. the duration of condition 1 is greater than ThTime (this thresholdmay be different depending on delay requirements of different services).

In a case of a beam failure, a beam recovery process may be performed instep 6.

Taking the V2X application as an example, reasons and triggeringconditions of the sidelink beam failure may, for example, include:uneven beams caused by high-speed mobility of vehicles; excessivechanges in relative positions of vehicles; insertion of a new vehiclebetween vehicles; line-of-sight is changed to non-line-of-sight betweenthe transmitter and the receiver; resource conflicts occur in a resourcepool corresponding to the beam; and the like. For different triggeringreasons, different beam failure schemes may be adopted. For example, fora case where a new vehicle is inserted, the newly inserted vehicle maybe used as a relay without changing the beam direction. For the casewhere the line-of-sight is changed to non-line-of-sight, a surroundingvehicle may be used as a relay or a roadside equipment may be used as arelay, to assist the communication.

FIG. 30 shows an example process for feedback-free beam tracking.

In step 1, the transmitter adjusts the transmission beam according tothe position information during transmission.

In step 2, the transmitter periodically transmits a measurementreference signal of each possible transmit beam (which is determined bya geographical position) on the (pre-configured) configured resources bythe base station, to perform beam tracking.

In step 3, the receiver measures the reference signal.

In step 4, the receiver determines whether a beam failure occurs.

In the case of a beam failure, a beam recovery process may be performedin step 5.

Next, a configuration of an electronic device of the example embodimentrelated to beam tracking is described. As shown in FIG. 4, an electronicdevice 400 according to the embodiment includes a processing circuitry410. The processing circuitry 410 includes a transceiving control unit411 and a communication control unit 413, which are similar to thetransceiving control unit 111 and the communication control unit 113described in the above embodiment.

In addition, in order to perform beam tracking, the transceiving controlunit 411 is further configured to perform control to periodicallytransmit, on multiple beams, multiple reference signals which correspondto the multiple beams to another user equipment.

According to an embodiment, the processing circuitry 410 may furtherinclude an adjustment unit 415. The transceiving control unit 411 isfurther configured to perform control to receive feedback information ofthe another user equipment with respect to the periodically transmittedreference signal. The adjustment unit 415 is configured to perform beamadjustment based on the feedback information. For example, the beamadjustment may include increasing a beam width.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration of an electronic device of the exampleembodiment related to beam tracking which corresponds to a receiver. Asshown in FIG. 5, an electronic device 500 according to the embodimentincludes a processing circuitry 510. The processing circuitry 510includes a transceiving control unit 511, a communication control unit513, and a measurement control unit 515. Configurations of thetransceiving control unit 511 and the communication control unit 513 aresimilar to that of the corresponding units described above.

The measurement control unit 515 is configured to perform control toperform measurement with respect to multiple reference signals which areperiodically transmitted by the another user equipment (the transmitter)on multiple beams and which respectively correspond to the multiplebeams.

Next, an example mode of the beam recovery process is described.

FIG. 31 shows an example process for feedback-based beam failurerecovery.

In step 1, the transmitter and receiver perform beam tracking.

In a case that the receiver determines that a beam failure occurs (Yesin step 2), in step 3, the receiver may first enter a self-repairprocess, that is, the receiver may rescan all the reception beams. Ifthere is an available reception beam, the receiver will select thisreception beam to form a new beam pair link; if all the reception beamsare unavailable, the receiver transmits a request to the transmitter(step 5) for beam recovery.

The resources for the receiver to report the beam failure request andthe transmitter to respond may be PSCCH resources (<6 GHz). In Mode 3,the resources may be configured by the base station through RRCsignaling. In Mode 4, the vehicle may autonomously select resources inthe pre-configured resource pool to transmit the beam failure recoveryrequest and the response.

In step 6, after transmitting the failure recovery request, the receivermay monitor the response of transmitter. If no response is monitoredwithin a monitoring window (which may be pre-configured and may berelated to service time delay requirements), the receiver may retransmitthe request. When the number of times for transmitting the requestexceeds a threshold (which may be pre-configured and may be related tothe service time delay requirements), the receiver may stop monitoring,abandon this communication, and search for another communication object.

In step 7, the transmitter may explicitly or implicitly notify thereceiver of the beam failure recovery mechanism it has selected in thefailure recovery response, and a basis of selection and a manner ofnotification may be configured by RRC signaling, for example.

In step 8, the beam failure recovery is performed continually. Forexample, a new set of candidate beams may be set, and beam scanning anddetermination processes and the like can be performed.

FIG. 32 shows an example process for feedback-free beam failurerecovery.

Similar to the example process shown in FIG. 31, after detecting a beamfailure, the receiver first enters the self-repair process in step 3,that is, the receiver will rescan all the reception beams. If there isan available reception beam, the receiver will select this receptionbeam to form a new beam pair link; if all the reception beams areunavailable, the self-repair process fails.

In step 4, the failed transmission beam is monitored continuously, whena monitoring period of time exceeds a time threshold (which isdetermined by service time delay requirements), this communication isabandoned, and another communication object may be searched.

Next, a configuration example of an embodiment of an electronic devicerelated to beam recovery is described. Referring back to FIG. 4, theelectronic device 400 according to the embodiment includes a processingcircuitry 410. The processing circuitry 410 includes a transceivingcontrol unit 411 and a communication control unit 413, which are similarto the transceiving control unit 111 and the communication control unit113 described in the above embodiment.

The transceiving control unit 411 is further configured to performcontrol to receive indication information indicating a link failuretransmitted by the another user equipment (the receiver).

In addition, the processing circuitry 410 may further include anadjustment unit 415 configured to adjust a beam set or a beam width fortransmitting a reference signal in response to the indicationinformation.

Next, a configuration example of an embodiment of an electronic devicerelated to beam recovery that corresponds to a receiver is described. Asshown in FIG. 6, the electronic device 600 according to the embodimentincludes a processing circuitry 610. The processing circuitry 610includes a transceiving control unit 611, a communication control unit613, and a scan control unit 615. Configuration of the transceivingcontrol unit 611 and the communication control unit 613 are similar tothat of the corresponding units described above.

The scan control unit 615 is configured to perform control to performreception beam scanning in a case where sidelink communication through acurrent reception beam fails.

According to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit 611 is furtherconfigured to perform control to transmit indication informationindicating a link failure to the another user equipment (thetransmitter), in a case where the reception beam scanning fails.

In addition, the transceiving control unit 611 may be further configuredto perform control to monitor response information of the another userequipment (the transmitter) within a predetermined period of time, aftertransmitting the indication information.

Example embodiments related to beam recovery are described above. Inaddition, in some embodiments, a recovery mode for the sidelinkcommunication may be determined based on service requirements. Therecovery mode may include, for example, a reselect-request recoverymode, a multi-beam mode, and a beam widening mode. The servicerequirements may include, for example, a reliability requirement and atime delay sensitivity requirement.

As an example, services may be classified according to QoS (Quality ofService), which may correspond to, for example, PPPP (pass-throughpacket priority). The transmitter may select an appropriate beam failurerecovery mechanism according to a range of the PPPP and inform thereceiver of the beam failure recovery mechanism.

Table 4 below lists several non-security-related services and specificrequirements.

TABLE 4 Usage 16(1)/ codes 3 6 10 11 12 13 16(2) Time 10 ms 100 ms 100ms 100 ms 20 ms 20 ms 50 ms/ delay 10 ms Realiablity 90% 99% high highhigh high   90%/ 99.99% Bandwidth high — — — — — — Data large 1600 byte6500 byte 53 Mbp 2.75 Mbp 65 Mbps 10 Mbps/ rate/size (25 Mbp) (5-10 Hz)6500 byte 700 Mbps Range/x high City 50 m 10 seconds 5 seconds 10seconds 5 seconds 100 m/ second* (250 m) County 500 m (maximum 500 mrelative High-speed speed) road [m/s]) 1000 m

According to the reliability and delay requirements of services, theservices may be divided into three types (the corresponding services areindicated by the usage codes in the above table): high reliability andinsensitive to time delay (6, 10, 11); low reliability and sensitive totime delay (3, 12, 13, 16 (1)); high reliability and insensitive to timedelay (16 (2)).

For different types of services, a reselect-request recovery mechanism,a multi-beam mechanism, and a beam widening mechanism may be applied,respectively.

In an actual scenario, the transmitter may select a recovery mechanismbased on service requirements. First, QoS may correspond to a specificrange of PPPP. The actual value of the PPPP is 0 to 8. The services maybe divided into, for example, three levels based on the size of thePPPP, and the transmitter may directly select an appropriate beamfailure recovery mechanism according to the known PPPP. Thecorrespondence is as shown in Table 5 below.

TABLE 5 PPPP Usage codes Failure recovery mechanism 0-3 3, 12, 13, 16(1)Multi-beam mechanism and beam widening mechanism 4-6 6, 10, 11Reselect-request recovery mechanism 7 16(2) Other techniques arerequired

It should be noted that the values of the PPPP given in Table 5 are onlyexamples. The actual value of the PPPP depends on a specificimplementation of an operator and a manufacturer.

FIGS. 33 to 35 show example processes for a reselect-request recoverymechanism, a multi-beam mechanism, and a beam widening mechanismtriggered by a receiver, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 33, in step 1, after monitoring a beam failure, thereceiver may measure and scan all the transmission beams again based onthe periodic beam reference signal to select a new available candidatebeam. In step 2, the receiver transmits a recovery request to thetransmitter, which may include an ID of the candidate beam. In step 3,the receiver monitors a response of the transmitter within apredetermined time window. In step 4, the transmitter transmits aresponse, which may include a beam ID for retransmission and a SCIcorresponding to a retransmission message. In step 5, the retransmissionis performed.

As shown in FIG. 34, in step 1, in the beam determination process,instead of determining only one beam pair link for transmission, thetransmitter and the receiver may select a candidate beam set, andmeasure and update the candidate beam set during a beam trackingprocess. Next, processes of beam tracking, measurement and reporting areperformed in steps 2 to 4. In step 5, after receiving a failure report,the transmitter may use the most recently updated candidate beam set fortransmission, and may transmit the corresponding beam ID and the SCIcorresponding to the retransmission information to the receiver in thefailure response message. In step 6, a message is transmitted on thecandidate beam pair link.

The multi-beam mechanism may be triggered by the receiver after the beamfailure. Alternatively, multiple candidate beam pair links may be usedfor transmission simultaneously by the transmitter after the beams aredetermined in consideration of improving the reliability or reducinginteraction time delay caused after the beam failure.

FIG. 35 shows an example process for a beam widening mechanism, in which(a) corresponds to a case of triggering by a transmitter, and (b)corresponds to a case of triggering by a receiver.

In the case of triggering by the transmitter, as shown in (a) of FIG.35, beam tracking is performed in step 1, and in step 2, the transmitterdetermines whether a wider beam is required, and in step 3, a wider beamis used to transmit a message when necessary.

In the case of triggering by the receiver, as shown in (b) of FIG. 35,beam tracking is performed in step 1, and in step 2, the receiverdetermines that the beam fails, and failure request and response areperformed in step 3 and step 4. In step 5, a wider beam is used totransmit a message when necessary.

In addition, beam failure recovery may also be performed in combinationwith other technologies when necessary, such as carrier aggregation(widening bandwidth) or enhanced hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)mechanism based on a channel busy rate (CBR)/channel quality.

It should also be noted that the above example embodiment of determininga recovery mode for sidelink communication based on service requirementsmay be applied to feedback-based beam management and feedback-free beammanagement.

In the above description of the electronic device according to theembodiments of the present disclosure, it is apparent that someprocesses and methods are also disclosed. Next, a description of amethod according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is givenwithout repeating the details that have been described above.

As shown in FIG. 7, a wireless communication method at a user equipmentside according to an embodiment includes the following steps S710 andS720.

In S710, a reference signal for a sidelink is transmitted to or receivedfrom another user equipment.

In S720, beamforming-based sidelink communication is performed with theanother user equipment. At least one of a transmission beam and areception beam for the sidelink communication is determined based on themeasurement with respect to the above reference signal.

In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure further include adevice and method at a base station side. Next, a description of theembodiment for the base station side will be given without repeating thedetails corresponding to the above embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 8, according to an embodiment, an electronic device 800at a base station side includes a processing circuitry 810. Theprocessing circuitry 810 includes an allocation unit 811 configured toallocate a communication resource for transmitting a reference signal.The reference signal is used for determining at least one of atransmission beam and a reception beam for beamforming-based sidelinkcommunication between user equipments.

As shown in FIG. 9, according to another embodiment, an electronicdevice 900 at a base station side includes a processing circuitry 910.The processing circuitry 910 includes an allocation unit 911 (aconfiguration of which is similar to that of the above allocation unit811) and a transmission control unit 913.

The transmission control unit 913 is configured to perform control totransmit at least one of the following information to one of the userequipments: a type of the reference signal; a time-frequency resourceposition of the reference signal; and a beam identificationcorresponding to the reference signal.

FIG. 10 shows a wireless communication method at a base station sideaccording to an embodiment, which includes a step of allocating acommunication resource for transmitting a reference signal. Thereference signal is used for determining at least one of a transmissionbeam and a reception beam for beamforming-based sidelink communicationbetween user equipments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a wirelesscommunication apparatus (at a user equipment side or a base stationside), which includes a transceiver device and an electronic device asdescribed in the above embodiments.

In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure further includes acomputer-readable medium, which includes executable instructions that,when executed by an information processing apparatus, cause theinformation processing apparatus to implement the method according tothe above embodiments.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a wirelesscommunication apparatus at a user equipment side and a wirelesscommunication apparatus at a base station side. The wirelesscommunication apparatus includes a transceiver device and a processordescribed in conjunction with the above embodiments.

As an example, various steps of the above methods and various modulesand/or units of the above devices may be implemented by software,firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. When implemented bysoftware or firmware, a program constituting software for implementingthe above method may be installed from a storage medium or a network toa computer (for example, a general-purpose computer 1100 shown in FIG.11) having a dedicated hardware structure, which, when installed withvarious programs, can perform various functions and the like.

In FIG. 11, a central processing unit (CPU) 1101 executes variousprocessing according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM)1102 or a program loaded to a random access memory (RAM) 1103 from amemory section 1108. Data required for various processing and the likeof the CPU 1101 may be stored in the RAM 1103 as needed. The CPU 1101,the ROM 1102 and the RAM 1103 are linked to each other via a bus 1104.An input/output interface 1105 is also linked to the bus 1104.

The following components are linked to the input/output interface 1105:an input section 1106 (including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like), anoutput section 1107 (including a display such as a cathode ray tube(CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD) and the like, and a loudspeakerand the like), a storage section 1108 (including a hard disk and thelike), and a communication section 1109 (including a network interfacecard such as a LAN card, a modem and the like). The communicationsection 1109 performs communication processing via a network such as theInternet. A driver 1110 may also be linked to the input/output interface1105 as needed. A removable medium 1111 such as a magnetic disk, anoptical disk, a magnetic optical disk, a semiconductor memory and thelike may be installed onto the driver 1110 as needed, so that a computerprogram read therefrom is installed into the storage section 1108 asneeded.

In the case where the above series of processing are implemented bysoftware, programs forming the software are installed from a networksuch as the Internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium1111.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the storagemedium is not limited to the removable medium 1111 shown in FIG. 11,which has a program stored therein and is distributed separately fromthe device to provide the program to the user. The removable medium 1111may be, for example, a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk(registered trademark)), an optical disk (including a compact diskread-only memory (CD-ROM) and a digital versatile disk (DVD)), amagneto-optical disk (including a mini disc (MD) (registeredtrademark)), and a semiconductor memory. Alternatively, the storagemedium may be a ROM 1102, a hard disk included in the storage section1108 in which programs are stored, and the like, and may be distributedto the user along with a device in which they are incorporated.

An embodiment of the present disclosure also relates to a programproduct storing a machine-readable instruction code. The instructioncode, when being read and executed by a machine, performs the abovemethod according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, a storage medium for carrying the above program productstoring the machine-readable instruction code is also included in thepresent disclosure. The storage medium includes, but is not limited to,a floppy disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, amemory stick, and the like.

Embodiments of the present application also relate to the followingelectronic devices. In the case where the electronic device is used atthe base station side, the electronic device may be implemented as anytype of evolved Node B (eNB), such as a macro eNB and a small eNB. Asmall eNB may be an eNB covering a cell smaller than a macro cell, suchas a pico eNB, a micro eNB, and a home (femto) eNB. Instead, theelectronic device may be implemented as any other type of base station,such as a NodeB and a base transceiver station (BTS). Preferably, theelectronic device may be implemented as a gNB in a 5G system. Theelectronic device may include: a main body (which is also referred to asa base station device) configured to control wireless communication; andone or more remote radio heads (RRHs) arranged at a place different fromthe main body. In addition, various types of terminals described belowmay operate as base stations by temporarily or semi-persistentlyperforming functions of a base station.

In the case where the electronic device is used at the user equipmentside, the electronic device may be implemented as a mobile terminal(such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, aportable game terminal, a portable/dongle-type mobile router, and adigital camera device) or an in-vehicle terminal (such as a carnavigation device). In addition, the electronic device may be a wirelesscommunication module (such as an integrated circuit module including asingle or multiple chips) mounted on each of the terminals describedabove.

[Application Example of a Terminal Device]

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematicconfiguration of a smart phone 2500 to which the technology according tothe present disclosure may be applied. The smart phone 2500 includes aprocessor 2501, a memory 2502, a storage device 2503, an externalconnection interface 2504, a camera 2506, a sensor 2507, a microphone2508, an input device 2509, a display device 2510, a speaker 2511, awireless communication interface 2512, one or more antenna switches2515, one or more antennas 2516, a bus 2517, a battery 2518, and anauxiliary controller 2519.

The processor 2501 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on a chip(SoC), and controls functions of an application layer and another layerof the smart phone 2500. The memory 2502 includes RAM and ROM, andstores a program that is executed by the processor 2501, and data. Thestorage device 2503 may include a storage medium such as a semiconductormemory and a hard disk. The external connection interface 2504 is aninterface for connecting an external device (such as a memory card and auniversal serial bus (USB) device) to the smart phone 2500.

The camera 2506 includes an image sensor (such as a charge coupleddevice (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)), andgenerates a captured image. The sensor 2507 may include a group ofsensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagneticsensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 2508 converts soundsthat are inputted to the smart phone 2500 into audio signals. The inputdevice 2509 includes, for example, a touch sensor configured to detecttouch on a screen of the display device 2510, a keypad, a keyboard, abutton, or a switch, and receives an operation or information inputtedby a user. The display device 2510 includes a screen (such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD) and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display), and displays an output image of the smart phone 2500. Thespeaker 2511 converts audio signals that are outputted from the smartphone 2500 into sounds.

The wireless communication interface 2512 supports any cellularcommunication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and performswireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2512 maygenerally include, for example, a base band (BB) processor 2513 and aradio frequency (RF) circuit 2514. The BB processor 2513 may perform,for example, encoding/decoding, modulating/demodulating, andmultiplexing/demultiplexing, and performs various types of signalprocessing for wireless communication. In addition, the RF circuit 2514may include, for example, a frequency mixer, a filter, and an amplifier,and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2516. Thewireless communication interface 2512 may be a chip module having the BBprocessor 2513 and the RF circuit 2514 integrated thereon. The wirelesscommunication interface 2512 may include multiple BB processors 2513 andmultiple RF circuits 2514, as shown in FIG. 12. Although FIG. 12 showsthe example in which the wireless communication interface 2512 includesthe multiple BB processors 2513 and the multiple RF circuits 2514, thewireless communication interface 2512 may include a single BB processor2513 or a single RF circuit 2514.

Furthermore, in addition to a cellular communication scheme, thewireless communication interface 2512 may support another type ofwireless communication scheme such as a short-distance wirelesscommunication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wirelesslocal area network (LAN) scheme. In this case, the wirelesscommunication interface 2512 may include the BB processor 2513 and theRF circuit 2514 for each wireless communication scheme.

Each of the antenna switches 2515 switches connection destinations ofthe antennas 2516 among multiple circuits (such as circuits fordifferent wireless communication schemes) included in the wirelesscommunication interface 2512.

Each of the antennas 2516 includes a single or multiple antenna elements(such as multiple antenna elements included in an MIMO antenna), and isused by the wireless communication interface 2512 to transmit andreceive wireless signals. The smart phone 2500 may include multipleantennas 2516, as shown in FIG. 12. Although FIG. 12 shows the examplein which the smart phone 2500 includes multiple antennas 2516, the smartphone 2500 may include a single antenna 2516.

Furthermore, the smart phone 2500 may include the antenna 2516 for eachwireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switches 2515may be omitted from the configuration of the smart phone 2500.

The bus 2517 connects the processor 2501, the memory 2502, the storagedevice 2503, the external connection interface 2504, the camera 2506,the sensor 2507, the microphone 2508, the input device 2509, the displaydevice 2510, the speaker 2511, the wireless communication interface2512, and the auxiliary controller 2519 to each other. The battery 2518supplies power to various components of the smart phone 2500 shown inFIG. 12 via feeder lines, which are partially shown as dashed lines inFIG. 12. The auxiliary controller 2519 operates a minimum necessaryfunction of the smart phone 2500, for example, in a sleep mode.

In the smart phone 2500 shown in FIG. 12, the transceiver device of thewireless communication apparatus at the user equipment side according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by thewireless communication interface 2512. At least a part of the functionsof the processing circuitry and/or each unit of the electronic device orthe wireless communication apparatus at the user equipment sideaccording to the embodiment of the present disclosure may also beimplemented by the processor 2501 or the auxiliary controller 2519. Forexample, the power consumption of the battery 2518 may be reduced byperforming a part of the functions of the processor 2501 by theauxiliary controller 2519. In addition, the processor 2501 or theauxiliary controller 2519 may perform, by executing a program stored inthe memory 2502 or the storage device 2503, at least part of thefunctions of the processing circuitry and/or each unit of the electronicdevice or the wireless communication apparatus at the user equipmentside according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[Application Example of a Base Station]

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a example of a schematicconfiguration of a gNB to which the technology of the present disclosuremay be applied. A gNB 2300 includes multiple antennas 2310, and a basestation device 2320. The base station device 2320 may be connected toeach antenna 2310 via a radio frequency (RF) cable.

Each of the antennas 2310 includes a single or multiple antenna elements(such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple input multipleoutput (MIMO) antenna), and is used by the base station device 2320 totransmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in FIG. 13, the gNB 2300may include multiple antennas 2310. For example, the multiple antennas2310 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB2300.

The base station device 2320 includes a controller 2321, a memory 2322,a network interface 2323, and a wireless communication interface 2325.

The controller 2321 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operatesvarious functions of a higher layer of the base station device 2320. Forexample, the controller 2321 generates a data packet based on data in asignal processed by the wireless communication interface 2325, andtransfers the generated packet via the network interface 2323. Thecontroller 2321 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors togenerate bundled packet, and transfer the generated bundled packet. Thecontroller 2321 may have logical functions of performing control such aswireless resource control, wireless bearer control, mobility management,admission control, and scheduling. The control may be performed inconjunction with an adjacent gNB or a core network node. The memory 2322includes RAM and ROM, and stores a program that is executed by thecontroller 2321, and various types of control data (such as a terminallist, transmitting power data, and scheduling data).

The network interface 2323 is a communication interface for connectingthe base station device 2320 to a core network 2324. The controller 2321may communicate with a core network node or another gNB via the networkinterface 2323. In that case, the gNB 2300 and the core network node oranother gNB may be connected to each other through a logical interface(such as an Si interface and an X2 interface). The network interface2323 may be a wired communication interface or a wireless communicationinterface for a wireless backhaul line. If the network interface 2323 isa wireless communication interface, the network interface 2323 may use ahigher frequency band for wireless communication than a frequency bandused by the wireless communication interface 2325.

The wireless communication interface 2325 supports any cellularcommunication scheme (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) andLTE-Advanced), and provides wireless connection to a terminal positionedin a cell of the gNB 2300 via the antenna 2310. The wirelesscommunication interface 2325 may typically include, for example, a BBprocessor 2326 and an RF circuit 2327. The BB processor 2326 mayperform, for example, coding/decoding, modulation/demodulation andmultiplexing/de-multiplexing, and perform various types of signalprocesses of the layer (for example L1, media access control (MAC),radio link control (RLC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)).Instead of the controller 2321, the BB processor 2326 may have a part orall of the above logical functions.

The BB processor 2326 may be a memory storing communication controlprograms, or a module including a processor which is configured toexecute the programs and a related circuit. Updating the program mayallow the functions of the BB processor 2326 to be changed. The modulemay be a card or a blade that is inserted into a slot of the basestation device 2320. Alternatively, the module may be a chip that ismounted on the card or the blade. In addition, the RF circuit 2327 mayinclude, for example, a frequency mixer, a filter or an amplifier, andtransmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2310.

As shown in FIG. 13, the wireless communication interface 2325 mayinclude multiple BB processors 2326. For example, the multiple BBprocessors 2326 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used bythe gNB 2300. As shown in FIG. 13, the wireless communication interface2325 may include multiple RF circuits 2327. For example, the multiple RFcircuits 2327 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. AlthoughFIG. 13 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface2325 includes multiple BB processors 2326 and multiple RF circuits 2327,the wireless communication interface 2325 may include a single BBprocessor 2326 or a single RF circuit 2327.

In the gNB 2300 shown in FIG. 13, the transceiver device of the wirelesscommunication apparatus at the base station side according to theembodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by the wirelesscommunication interface 2325. At least a part of the functions of theprocessing circuitry and/or each unit of the electronic device or thewireless communication apparatus at the base station side according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by thecontroller 2321. For example, the controller 2321 may perform, byexecuting a program stored in the memory 2322, at least part of thefunctions of the processing circuitry and/or each unit of the electronicdevice or the wireless communication apparatus at the base station sideaccording to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[Application Example of a Car Navigation Device]

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematicconfiguration of a car navigation device 2120 to which the technologyaccording to the present disclosure may be applied. The car navigationdevice 2120 includes a processor 2121, a memory 2122, a globalpositioning system (GPS) module 2124, a sensor 2125, a data interface2126, a content player 2127, a storage medium interface 2128, an inputdevice 2129, a display device 2130, a speaker 2131, a wirelesscommunication interface 2133, one or more antenna switches 2136, one ormore antennas 2137, and a battery 2138.

The processor 2121 may be, for example, a CPU or a SoC, and controls anavigation function and another function of the car navigation device2120. The memory 2122 includes RAM and ROM, and stores a program that isexecuted by the processor 2121, and data.

The GPS module 2124 uses GPS signals received from a GPS satellite tomeasure a position (such as a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude) ofthe car navigation device 2120. The sensor 2125 may include a group ofsensors such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressuresensor. The data interface 2126 is connected to, for example, anin-vehicle network 2141 via a terminal that is not shown, and acquiresdata generated by the vehicle, such as vehicle speed data.

The content player 2127 reproduces content stored in a storage medium(such as a CD and a DVD) that is inserted into the storage mediuminterface 2128. The input device 2129 includes, for example, a touchsensor configured to detect touch on a screen of the display device2130, a button, or a switch, and receives an operation or informationinputted by a user. The display device 2130 includes a screen such as aLCD or an OLED display, and displays an image of the navigation functionor a content that is reproduced. The speaker 2131 outputs a sound of thenavigation function or a content that is reproduced.

The wireless communication interface 2133 supports any cellularcommunication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and performswireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2133 maygenerally include, for example, a BB processor 2134 and an RF circuit2135. The BB processor 2134 may perform, for example, encoding/decoding,modulating/demodulating, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and performsvarious types of signal processing for wireless communication. Inaddition, the RF circuit 2135 may include, for example, a frequencymixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wirelesssignals via the antenna 2137. The wireless communication interface 2133may also be a chip module that has the BB processor 2134 and the RFcircuit 2135 integrated thereon. The wireless communication interface2133 may include multiple BB processors 2134 and multiple RF circuits2135, as shown in FIG. 14. Although FIG. 14 shows the example in whichthe wireless communication interface 2133 includes the multiple BBprocessors 2134 and the multiple RF circuits 2135, the wirelesscommunication interface 2133 may include a single BB processor 2134 or asingle RF circuit 2135.

Furthermore, in addition to a cellular communication scheme, thewireless communication interface 2133 may support another type ofwireless communication scheme such as a short-distance wirelesscommunication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wirelessLAN scheme. In that case, the wireless communication interface 2133 mayinclude the BB processor 2134 and the RF circuit 2135 for each wirelesscommunication scheme.

Each of the antenna switches 2136 switches connection destinations ofthe antennas 2137 among multiple circuits (such as circuits fordifferent wireless communication schemes) included in the wirelesscommunication interface 2133.

Each of the antennas 2137 includes a single or multiple antenna elements(such as multiple antenna elements included in an MIMO antenna), and isused by the wireless communication interface 2133 to transmit andreceive wireless signals. The car navigation device 2120 may includemultiple antennas 2137, as shown in FIG. 14. Although FIG. 14 shows theexample in which the car navigation device 2120 includes the multipleantennas 2137, the car navigation device 2120 may include a singleantenna 2137.

Furthermore, the car navigation device 2120 may include the antenna 2137for each wireless communication scheme. In that case, the antennaswitches 2136 may be omitted from the configuration of the carnavigation device 2120.

The battery 2138 supplies power to various components of the carnavigation device 2120 shown in FIG. 14 via feeder lines that arepartially shown as dashed lines in the FIG. 14. The battery 2138accumulates power supplied form the vehicle.

In the car navigation device 2120 shown in FIG. 14, the transceiverdevice or the transceiver unit of the wireless communication apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be implementedby the wireless communication interface 2133. At least a part of thefunctions of the processing circuit and/or each unit of the electronicdevice or the wireless communication apparatus according to theembodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by theprocessor 2121.

The technology of the present disclosure may also be implemented by anin-vehicle system (or a vehicle) 2140 including one or more componentsof car navigation device 2120, the in-vehicle network 2141 and a vehiclemodule 2142. The vehicle module 2142 generates vehicle data (such as avehicle speed, an engine speed, and fault information), and outputs thegenerated data to the in-vehicle network 2141.

In the above description of specific embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the features described and/or illustrated for one embodimentmay be used in one or more other embodiments in the same or similarmanner, may be combined with features in the other embodiments, or mayreplace the features in the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the term “including/comprising”, when usedherein, refers to the presence of a feature, an element, a step or acomponent, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, elements, steps or components.

In the above embodiments and examples, numerals are used to indicateeach step and/or unit. It should be understood by those skilled in theart that these reference signs are used only for convenience ofdescription and drawing, and do not indicate their order or make anyother limitation.

In addition, the method of the present disclosure is not limited tobeing performed in the chronological order described in thespecification, but may also be performed in other chronological order,in parallel, or independently. Therefore, the performing order of themethod described in this specification does not limit the technicalscope of the present disclosure.

Although the present disclosure has been disclosed above through thedescription of specific embodiments of the present disclosure, it shouldbe understood that all the embodiments and examples described above areillustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art may makevarious modifications, improvements, or equivalents to the presentdisclosure within the spirit and scope of the claims. Thesemodifications, improvements or equivalents should also be considered tobe included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.

1. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprisingprocessing circuitry configured to perform control to: transmit to orreceive from another user equipment at least one reference signal for asidelink; and perform beamforming-based sidelink communication with theanother user equipment, wherein at least one of a transmission beam anda reception beam for the sidelink communication is determined based on ameasurement with respect to the reference signal.
 2. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry isconfigured to perform control to transmit, on a plurality of beams, aplurality of reference signals which respectively correspond to theplurality of beams to the another user equipment.
 3. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the reference signal comprises asounding reference signal, a sidelink synchronization signal or asidelink beam management reference signal.
 4. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to perform control to transmit to or receive from the anotheruser equipment at least one of the following information: a type of thereference signal; a time-frequency resource position of the referencesignal; and a beam identification corresponding to the reference signal.5. (canceled)
 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to perform control to acquireposition information of the another user equipment and/or provideposition information of a current user equipment to the another userequipment, and wherein the determination of at least one of thetransmission beam and the reception beam is further based on theposition information.
 7. The electronic device according to claim 6,wherein the position information comprises longitude and latitude,orientation and speed, and/or wherein the processing circuitry isconfigured to perform control to broadcast the position information ofthe current user equipment and/or receive broadcasted positioninformation of the another user equipment.
 8. (canceled)
 9. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to determine a beam management mode for thesidelink communication, wherein the beam management mode comprises: afirst mode, in which both the transmission beam and the reception beamare determined based on the measurement with respect to the referencesignal; and a second mode, in which only one of the transmission beamand the reception beam is determined based on the measurement withrespect to the reference signal.
 10. The electronic device according toclaim 9, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine thebeam management mode based on stability of the sidelink, and/or whereinthe processing circuitry is further configured to perform control totransmit indication information related to the beam management mode tothe another user equipment.
 11. (canceled)
 12. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the reference signal is transmitted usinga resource allocated by a base station.
 13. (canceled)
 14. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitryis configured to perform control to receive the reference signal fromthe another user equipment, and the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to perform control to receive at least one of the followinginformation transmitted by a base station: a type of the referencesignal; a time-frequency resource position of the reference signal; anda beam identification corresponding to the reference signal.
 15. Theelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitryis configured to perform control to transmit the reference signal to theanother user equipment, and the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: perform control to receive feedback informationtransmitted by the another user equipment based on the measurement withrespect to the reference signal; and determine the transmission beambased on the feedback information.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry isconfigured to perform control to receive the reference signal from theanother user equipment, and the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: perform control to perform the measurement with respectto the reference signal; and determine the reception beam based on themeasurement with respect to the reference signal. 18.-19. (canceled) 20.The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to perform control to periodically transmit, ona plurality of beams, a plurality of reference signals whichrespectively correspond to the plurality of beams to the another userequipment. 21.-22. (canceled)
 23. The electronic device according toclaim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to performcontrol to perform measurement with respect to a plurality of referencesignals which are periodically transmitted by the another user equipmenton a plurality of beams and which respectively correspond to theplurality of beams.
 24. The electronic device according to claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to performcontrol to receive indication information indicating a link failurewhich is transmitted by the another user equipment.
 25. (canceled) 26.The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: perform control to perform areception beam scan, in a case where sidelink communication through acurrent reception beam fails. 27.-28. (canceled)
 29. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to determine a recovery mode for the sidelink communicationbased on service requirements, wherein the recovery mode comprises: areselect-request recovery mode, a multi-beam mode and a beam wideningmode. 30.-31. (canceled)
 32. A wireless communication method,comprising: transmitting to or receiving from another user equipment areference signal for a sidelink; and performing beamforming-basedsidelink communication with the another user equipment, wherein at leastone of a transmission beam and a reception beam for the sidelinkcommunication is determined based on measurement with respect to thereference signal.
 33. An electronic device for wireless communication,comprising processing circuitry configured to: allocate a communicationresource for transmitting a reference signal, wherein the referencesignal is used for determining at least one of a transmission beam and areception beam for beamforming-based sidelink communication between userequipments.
 34. The electronic device according to claim 33, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to perform control totransmit at least one of the following information to one of the userequipments: a type of the reference signal; a time-frequency resourceposition of the reference signal; and a beam identificationcorresponding to the reference signal. 35.-36. (canceled)